Dire straits to country’s arts capital
WELLINGTON made its debut as the country’s arts capital in 1986, when the first international arts festival was staged to a standing ovation from culture lovers.
Ballet, jazz, watercolours, gay films, batik, novels, chamber music, mime, Japanese puppets, photographs, antiques and religious icons were among the riches offered at the inaugural 21-day festival that March.
‘‘The Festival of the Arts starts in Wellington today buoyed up by the goodwill of a community that, because of size and distance, has been somewhat deprived of the cultural pleasures others can take for granted,’’ The Evening Post said on March 5.
Incredibly, the festival brought to New Zealand the first international orchestra to visit in 12 years, the Berlin Staatskapelle Orchestra. Opera composer Philip Glass, musician Stevie Ray Vaughan, and arts critic Robert Hughes were other overseas drawcards.
The arts deluge was like rain to a parched cultural desert and Wellingtonians lapped it up with an enthusiasm lacking in other world capitals, the Post said.
‘‘A standing ovation for contemporary music? And cheers? Can this be Wellington? Can this indeed be the same programme that a conservative Sydney audience found so alien that dozens walked out?’’ an arts reviewer asked after a Polish quartet performed Bartok, Zimmermann, Boulez and Messiaen.
Diversity in the programme was evident from opening night, with rock band Dire Straits entertaining 45,000 people at Athletic Park, while Australian soprano Dame Joan Sutherland sang with the symphony orchestra at the Michael Fowler Centre.
The festival was created by a group of arts patrons headed by former prime minister Jack Marshall, and supported by Wellington mayor Ian Lawrence and his council. ‘‘Eighteen months ago, we started with nothing but ideas and enthusiasm, and knowledgeable people in the art world said it couldn’t be done in the time,’’ Marshall told the Post.
‘‘Well, it has been done. I am sure that the city and its citizens will benefit greatly culturally, socially and financially from the festival now and in the future.’’
The first festival cost $1 million to produce, with a quarter of that coming from Wellington ratepayers. The council was criticised for funding a programme that promoted overseas acts rather than local ones, something mayor Lawrence defended.
Nonetheless, the perceived snub prompted Wellington artists to stage a Flying Kiwi festival, which evolved into today’s New Zealand Fringe Festival. Flying Kiwi kicked off with a loud and colourful procession from Manners Mall to upper Cuba St on March 15, and proceeded to stage nine days of street theatre, exhibitions, a market and bands.
Ticket prices were kept low to ensure the festival was accessible, with an orchestra ticket costing $18 to $25, half the price concertgoers paid in Australia. Many shows sold out and queues formed all day long outside a ticket booth at the opera house.
Nonetheless, the festival lost $133,000 and would not turn a profit until the fifth time it was staged, in 1994.
The Dominion said in 1998: ‘‘Each festival since 1986 has added its own imprint to one of the goals of the festival pioneers: to contribute to making Wellington an exciting city – and, for those unfortunate enough to live elsewhere, to make this a centre worth visiting.’’ The Dominion Post – 150 Years of News is available via dompost.co.nz or 0800 50 50 90. Priced at $34.95 + $3 postage and handling or $29.95 + $3 p&h for subscribers.